![]() I won’t deny that learning the art of animation does take longerįor some people than it does for those who seem to grasp the concepts early on. Meaning, there were some students who, no matter how hard they tried, were never going to be accomplished animators. Early in my career as an animator, I was naive enough to think that you either “had it” or you didn’t. One more thought … As a teacher of animation, I’d be remiss not to speak briefly about learning these techniques and learning animation in general. To access this movie file along with the character rig and tools used to create the animation, you can find them at the companion website: By the end of the book, my hope is that you’ll be able to incorporate these techniques into your animation by expanding your knowledge, skills, and toolset. You will have a real-world example from which you can follow and learn. Since animation is a visual art that involves motion, the book will walk you through the production of a short animated scene, which will incorporate every technique mentioned within. That being said, a basic understanding of the animation process and how to animate in Maya is all that is needed to get the most from this text. I try to make the information as easy to digest as possible nevertheless, this book is not intended for the absolute beginner. This book is intended for the animator who is looking to develop a more exaggerated, cartoony, animation style. Even though the application of these techniques may occasionally try your patience, the end result is often jaw-dropping animation magic. Recent developments in character rigging and tools are making it much easier to implement cartoony techniques in computer animation. My hope with this book is to address both of these challenges. Knowing when to use it is just as important as knowing how to use it. And, in the case of these traditional animation techniques, discretion is key. Much like the budding child artist who discovers that a circle in the upper corner of a page represents the sun, and then the sun tends to show up in that same location in every drawing! Once the ah-ha moment has happened, and the technique is learned, there can be a temptation to use that technique wherever and whenever we can. Again, using the same example, knowing when and how much to smear a character is an art unto itself. The second hurdle deals with the aesthetic considerations of applying these techniques in an appropriate manner. Computer animation, as an art form, is still in its infancy, and the tools we’re using feel a little crude at times. The ability to bend computer animation to your cartoony will (like having a character smear and distort across the length of the frame) has not been a tool available in most computer animators’ toolboxes. The first is the technical nature of implementing these techniques. So what are the difficulties in animating in a cartoony style? The way I see it, there are two primary hurdles. As with much in life, we place more value on things that are not easily attained. I mean, this is a book on cartoons, right? But it does ring true. But as Epicurus reminds us, “The greater the difficulty, the more the glory in surmounting it.” Now, that will be the only reference in this book to any Greek philosophy, I promise. Creating cartoony computer animation can be difficult. ![]() ![]() Dan Hofstedt Step-by-Step Walkthrough Over to You!ĬHAPTER SIX CARTOONY TECHNIQUES The Problem of Motion Blur Multiple Limbs Motion Lines and Dry-Brush Smears Staggers Interview: Jason Figliozzi Step-by-Step Walkthrough Over to You!ĪPPENDIX Conclusion Further Reading Further Viewing Picture Credits Acknowledgments Also available from Bloomsbury: Stop-Motion Animation Animated Performance The Moving Image WorkshopĬHAPTER ONE THINKING IN 2D Design Informs Motion Animating in 2D in 3D Interview: Ken Duncan Over to You!ĬHAPTER TWO ANIMATION PLANNING Thumbnails Video Reference Animation Acting Interview: Ricardo Jost Resende Step-by-Step Walkthrough Over to You!ĬHAPTER THREE THE POSE TEST Scene Prep Designing the Pose A Principled Animation Interview: Matt Williames Step-by-Step Walkthrough Over to You!ĬHAPTER FOUR BREAKDOWNS Liking What You Get versus Getting What You Like Building a Better Breakdown Interview: Pepe Sánchez Step-by-Step Walkthrough Over to You!ĬHAPTER FIVE REFINE Achieving Polish The Terrifying Transition Final Polish Interview: T.
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